Telephone
by NullNoMore
Summary: Doug sees a ghost on the way back from drinking with Frye. Sure, he could ignore it, but Doug has learned not to do that. Swears, alcohol, dark places, and courage. NEW: Chapters 2& 3 feature Gwin, baked goods, and more swears. All game spoilers, plus a side quest. The good stuff belongs to Monolith Soft, but Case and Lila are mine.
1. Doug

**Telephone**

 **a/n: Doug sees a ghost on the way back from drinking with Frye. Sure, he could ignore it, but Doug has learned not to do that.**

 **Swears, alcohol, dark places, courage. Misdirection. Spoilers to Blood Lobster (if you don't know the thing, pleeeeeaaaase finish it before reading, I love that horrible, amazing quest).**

 **All the good stuff belongs to Monolith Soft. Case and Lila are mine, and I am paying for PTSD counseling and care for ALL OF NLA.**

* * *

Doug hadn't planned on getting that drunk. Celebrating Ray and Janine's engagement would mean fun and a few drinks, and maybe a slight buzz on the way home. But stumbling and seeing things? That was Frye's fault.

Naw, that was Nguyn's fault. Rather, his choice of date.

No. It was his own fault.

Ray and Janine's news was news to almost no one, but that didn't make it any less good. They'd invited their team and some friends and eventually what seemed like half of the Harrier division over to the Italian-Cuban restaurant at the end of the Commercial District. All very casual and accidental, but when Ray stood up to make an announcement, every face was grinning before he'd said the first word. Janine's face was bright red and grinning the widest. It felt good, to celebrate something that didn't involve ammunition or explosions.

He should have had a few beers and been done. But Nguyn had arrived with a gorgeous date, tall and leggy and with hair the color of deepest space. She'd taken one look at Doug and turned her back on him. Still not forgiven, it seemed. Nguyn had shot his team leader a hard look. Doug had shrugged and kept drinking. He'd bought a round, then another. In between, he'd had a few shots with other friends, one even with Nguyn. He'd muttered quickly, "Old business, don't pay it no mind." No point warning Nguyn about his date, not least because maybe there was nothing to warn him about.

All in all, he'd behaved himself, although he was wobbling a little when he left the restaurant. The fresh air hadn't quite smoothed the edge he still felt. So it seemed like a good idea to go over to check on Frye when Doug spotted him on the far corner. Turned out, Frye had not just worn out his welcome at the Repenta Diner. He'd managed to get banned from the parking lot as well. Not officially, no, even the respected manager of the diner couldn't enforce that, but Frye had enough delicacy to know when to take a break. So now he was doing his drinking at a new corner, at least temporarily. "I'll give her a break until Monday," he explained, passing a bottle to Doug. "She'll be ready to put up with me by then. You know she loves me, her and her liquor."

When you started drinking with Frye, you knew what you'd get. Drinking with Interceptors in general, and Frye in particular, was always the same. Doug's numbed brain managed to come up with "relentless." They'd shot the breeze, comparing missions and kills. They'd complained about their teams, and Doug had told Frye the news about Janine and Ray. Which had given their drinking some added enthusiasm. To the couple! To the future of NLA! To love and the poor saps that still felt it! He'd known exactly where they were headed before he said his first hello, and Frye had no blame in it at all.

Now he was stumbling over curbs that weren't there. Luckily he only had to get a few blocks to his off-barracks apartment. He wasn't sure about the stairs, but that would either be okay or it wouldn't, and in any case that was a problem for later. The real problem was seeing things that weren't there. Curbs. Rain. Wait, the rain was real, his hands were wet, so was the pavement. People.

He'd peered blurrily around, as the pavement swayed a little, and saw somebody over by the fountain. That little creep, he wasn't there anymore, so Doug certainly didn't see him now. Best idea was to listen to logic and go straight home. Yeah, so, clearly, best ideas weren't part of this night. He looked a little harder, through the frankly heavy rain, and logic had to admit that even drunk eyes probably were seeing something real. A BLADE, dark regulation body armour, standing in front of the fountain, facing the Residential Area, keeping a watch on the street. Short light hair, pale skin, slim.

Doug shuddered. Who the hell had that much bad taste to stand there like that? Even if the Mediators needed somebody on that corner, they should have had the sense to plant them somewhere else. The other side of the street, for crying out loud. Or send somebody built different, so you didn't scare innocent wandering strangers. Drunken staggering strangers.

Doug wove a little closer, to see who was that far gone from tact. He was already across the street before he recognized the BLADE. He rolled his eyes and turned his head for a second. "Oh crap." He knew that figure, and she wasn't a BLADE. Not anymore.

"Hey, Case, what's up?" He tried not to slur the words.

The coppery head turned toward him. Her green eyes were blank, even for a drifter renowned for being disconnected. So disconnected that she'd recently tried to kill three former teammates in full daylight in the center of Division Drive. All because they'd been talking to another young woman. That had been the incident that had finally gotten her bounced from BLADE. If Doug had been there, he would have helped, and those guys would have been dead instead of hospitalized.

"It's Doug. Remember me?" He wasn't sure she would. They'd never teamed together. She hadn't worked with Harriers much, except the one miserable squad in question.

"Oh. Barret. You talked to me, once, after…" She turned away and looked back across the moat.

He followed her gaze for a moment. "Yeah. How's it going?" He'd checked on her once, yeah, after she'd come back the first time from fighting that dweeb nerd. She'd looked sad but okay, and she'd been put with a good team. Reclaimers. All were nice and two were actually smart. Steady work, and nothing regularly ugly. He hadn't checked on her after the second time. No need to. They all knew she'd gone back for the nerd, brought him back like he was still part of NLA. Hell, everyone had watched as she'd followed the stretcher with that traitor into the Mim Center … Doug stopped thinking about it.

"I couldn't sleep. Thought I'd come outside for a bit."

"You're wearing your gear. You back in BLADE?" He knew she wasn't, not yet. There had been some recent discussion among the division leaders, and according to Alexa, the Outfitters were getting heavy pressure to take her back in. She had skills with alien tech that were going to waste now that she was working as a civilian, refueling skells for real BLADEs to take out on runs.

"Oh. This." She looked at her gloved hands. "I grabbed the first thing in my locker, and it was my old vest. Then I kept going. I should get rid of it."

"Well, people are going to get the wrong idea, seeing you here like this. Hell, for a moment, I thought you were … uh …."

"I hadn't thought of that. Sorry."

"Anyway. You should get back inside. Me too. It's really coming down, huh?" He tried to give her a normal grin as the deck tilted suddenly.

"Yeah." She looked at him curiously.

"Ha ha, been celebrating some good news. Two of my team got engaged. I'm probably gonna regret it a little tomorrow, but it was fun today."

She nodded, seriously. "I'm going to head back to the Mim Center now. Good night, Barret."

"Take care, Case. Don't fall into the gel or anything."

"Same to you."

To his surprise, the stairs hadn't been a problem. He'd grabbed a towel, mopped off the worst of the rain, and crashed face first into his couch. No point going to bed. He knew what was coming.

It wasn't two hours later and he was sitting bolt upright, eyes wide, panting. That fucking dream, and he'd asked for it, like he always did when he got that drunk. Lao, and a gun, and one shot fired. Same dream in three variations. Short, medium, long. Case was in it as the extra, didn't really surprise him. His brain had started to grab whoever he saw last and put them in that slot. Didn't affect the pattern. First the gun was aimed at the extra person: short version. Medium version and Lao'd swing it towards Doug. But this time Lao had taken himself out, not the most common ending, but Doug'd seen it plenty. He'd get over it in a few minutes. Then he realized that something was different. For once, the third person hadn't been silent. Case had said that thing, that thing he'd thought himself a few weeks before, when the long ending had happened. That thing that had gotten him to finally talk to someone, seriously, about the dream and all the other crap.

"Too bad he only had one bullet." Her face had that same blank look as when he'd last seen her, but her voice had been disappointed.

Doug was on his feet, breathing harder than ever. Not good, not good. It should have been obvious, but he'd been drunk off his ass and even sober he wasn't great at cues. He fumbled for his comm device, and was pacing even as he searched for Case's number.

She didn't pick up.

Okay, okay, no need to jump to conclusions. He left a message, "Hey, it's Doug, remember, we met in front of the … uh, I was wondering if you got home okay. Call me. Please." He punched out a text on top of that. She'd get the message and call. She was sleeping. She was fine.

He was already dialing Gwin. The Interceptor picked up after the third buzz. God, he looked dumb when he was sleepy. "Doug, what the hell…?"

"I can't reach Case. I'm worried."

"What?"

"I saw her out in the rain, and I think we should look for her and…"

"Are you drunk? What do you need her for?"

"I had a dream and …" Well, that was a stupid way to put it. "Ugh, I'm worried.

"Because of a dream? You're waking me up because of a dream?!"

"She was in her gear. For real, not the dream. It wasn't okay."

Gwin's face darkened momentarily. Then he shook his head. "Look, I'm sure she's out of her gear and sleeping. Like I wish I was."

"You've worked with her. You gonna help me look?"

"No. Go to bed, Doug." The line went dead.

Doug stared at his device. The next number he punched with more deliberation. Case's current boss, Lila Brown, manager of the refueling station and sometimes girlfriend of a certain large engineer.

"Brown. What you need?" A sour and suspicious face peered at him.

"Um, Lila, this is Doug Barret."

The woman in the display narrowed her eyes. "I see. What do you need? Something wrong in the hangar?" There was a complaining rumble in the background. Doug uncharacteristically cringed.

"No. Uh, I saw Case a while back. Something was wrong." No point mentioning the dream again.

Her attention was instant. "What happened?"

"She was standing by the fountain. You know, the one in the Commercial Section."

"Yeah, she goes there sometimes," Lila answered slowly.

"She was in her gear. Full gear."

"Ah. Gotcha. Give me three minutes."

Doug laid his comm device flat on the kitchen island and pulled out a mug. It was hard to make coffee while keeping one eye on the small rectangle at all times. It wasn't two minutes when it buzzed. He had it open before the chime ended.

"Yes?"

"She's fine. Someone's with her, been with her for hours. She's okay."

"Are you sure?"

Lila twisted her mouth with remembered bitterness. "I asked Eleonora. Directly. I got no pride when it comes to my crew. She's fine."

Doug's eyes closed in relief. Lila kept on talking. "I'm not giving you the details, so don't ask. But I'll make sure there's someone on her in the morning, until she gets into my station, and then we'll watch her. We did this kind of thing on the Whale, for more people than I'd like to say. Myself included." The speculation in her glance was almost tender. "You want me to call someone for you?"

Doug stared back, then shook his head. "I'm heading for the hangar, soon as I clean up. Might as well start my day."

"Well, have fun with that. I got three more hours of sleep left." Another rumble in the background seemed to argue about the accuracy of that statement. Lila give a sudden bright smile and Doug fought a blush as they said goodbye.

Coffee, shower, anti-hangover pill (because mims had their advantages and Doug had no problem with that). Hangar, paperwork, team, mission. He was headed to Oblivia before he saw Case, but he'd wouldn't forget to ask Lila later. Or ask Case directly. And he'd talk to Nara again, about the dream and Case and stuff, because he didn't need someone else making these kind of calls about him.

xc2xc2xc2xc2xc2xc2

"Hey, Case! Just so you know, Doug was worried about you." Gwin caught up to Case in the corridor.

"Huh?" Her face was still tired.

Gwin rubbed his hair into even wilder floppiness. "Woke me up last night, asking where you were."

"You could have told him."

"He was worried. About the gear."

"Oh. The gear." She passed a hand weakly over her outfit. "This really was an accident."

"He thought maybe, you know, maybe you were …"

She interrupted him. "And I don't have any weapons. They took those away. Not even a knife."

"Still…"

"Gwin, I have a plan. If it gets too bad, I'm giving up and letting the Mim Center deal with it. Don't worry."

"That's supposed to make me feel less worried?"

Case managed a smile. "If you see me in NLA, I'm okay."

Gwin didn't look any happier. "Can I buy you breakfast first?" he asked.

Case nodded. "Any day of the week."

"Today?"

Her smile became unforced and perhaps a touch evil. "Did you get paid recently?"

"No." Gwin felt a grin growing on his own face.

"No problem. We can see how much damage we can do to your credit rating. Just let me go change into work clothes."

* * *

 **a/n: Shameless plug time! Doug's dream: Dances with Saltat/3/Threesome. Janice and Ray: Modern Bromance/3/Tyrants and Kisses. Nguyn's date: Modern Bromance/4/Things were confused in his bed. The horrible Harrier team: Noctilum Picnic/1/Picnic Punch, The Great Skell Robbery, and probably Rosalee and Lucky/3/Talent Night at the Repenta.**

 **This is why I can't work on Duna and Wolf. I'm too worried about the mental health of NLA, and can you blame me?**

 **May I add: playable Nopon!  
Squeeeeeeeeee!  
I swear I will main that character.**


	2. Gwin

**Telephone - Gwin**

 **A/N: Gwin is not as much of a jerk as Doug thinks. Well, not the same kind of a jerk as Doug thinks.**

 **Teeny weeny swears. Theft. Not enough Nopon.**

 **All the grand world of XCX belongs to Monolith Soft and the people that designed the weather effects, but Case is mine.**

* * *

"Wait! Hold the elevator!"

Gwin thought he recognized the woman's voice. When he turned to look, all he could do was grimace. Right, Case, the last thing he needed this night. Did not want to smile and exchange niceties with her, not even for the seconds it took to reach the upper deck. He punched the button and watched her sink below.

The rain poured down on him, and he felt sick. Maybe she hadn't recognized him. Maybe she thought he hadn't heard her. Maybe her green eyes hadn't looked that hurt.

He punched the down button even before he reached the top. Impatiently tapped his boot as the gate lowered. Punched the button again. A couple of times, to be honest. The elevator was big enough to hold several shipping containers, or a full team of skells. It was stupid for one man to be riding on it, and just as stupid to be riding back down. Even when the gate rose and the platform shuddered, he gave the button a few more presses.

She was waiting quietly by the call button. When she saw him, she looked at him with surprise, but she didn't hesitate to get on the elevator. He pushed the up button.

As the ridiculously huge platform started its rumbling ascent, he blurted out, "Sorry. I should have stopped it for you."

She looked at him with the same flash of surprise. "It's okay. I figured you were in a rush."

He gave a sour smile. "I could probably wall jump up this shaft faster than this thing moves."

"But you didn't have to come back down. You're getting soaked."

"We're both getting soaked."

She laughed, slightly. "I'm already drenched." He looked at the bulky uniform she was wearing, several shades darker from the rain.

"That's, uh, that's…"

"Yeah, it's my old uniform. I put it on, kind of by accident. I woke up and wanted to get some fresh air, but I didn't want to put on a light and wake up my roommates. I haven't worn it since they bounced me." She shrugged and looked away.

"Even when you were helping me, uh, when…"

"When you were sick last week? Yeah, no, I kinda borrowed your gear, mostly. Or wore station gear. It wasn't exactly official, and it seemed like we were always in a hurry."

"Oh." He should have figured that out. He didn't mention that some of his gear still smelled like her perfume. "Are you thinking of rejoining?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe that's why I kept it. God, I'm soaked." She shook her head.

Time to change the topic. "Wanna stop by and have a snack?" He kicked himself even as he said those words. Everyone kept telling him that he didn't want to spend time with her, right?

"Naw, I should head back. Get dried off."

"Lin was baking all day so there's got to be something good." Why was he not shutting up?

Her face lit up. "Really?" Then she sighed. "I really shouldn't."

"You totally deserve a cookie for putting up with me."

"What was I gonna do, shoot you because you were in a rush?" She stuttered to a halt. "Uh … I don't mean…"

"I know what you mean," he said carefully. "But I was a jerk about the elevator, and besides, I owe you for helping last week. Even if I don't remember it."

"It was nothing. I was glad to help. You don't need to do anything. Still … it's hard to say no to baked goods by Lin."

"So don't." He tried to look pleading. Hadn't Doug told him that puppy dog was his best shot at getting girls? Gwin wasn't interested in Doug's style of dating (quantity over quality), but he wasn't above using what little he had. Wait, no, he wasn't thinking anything like that about Case. His face twisted suddenly.

Case snorted. "What is up with your face? You look like your stomach hurts."

"Well, now it does. Come on. I need backup. Let's raid the kitchen." Gwin managed a half-natural smile with effort.

Case closed her eyes for a second. Then she nodded solemnly. "Sure. Let's do this thing."

Xcxcxcxcxcxcxcxc2

"No no no. I need you out. Out now! Out out out!" Lin was not in a welcoming mood. She kept darting in front of Gwin, pushing him back from the kitchen island.

"Jeez, Lin, this is a shared space.."

"And you watch your mouth, Gwin Evans. I got thoroughly chewed out by Elma for saying something and then having Tatsu repeat it. She'll blame me if he starts chirping 'jeez jeez jeez'."

"Blame L."

"I get blamed. Me. Like I'm in charge of his mouth." She looked around for her Nopon sidekick, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, you did teach him most of the insults he's ever heard."

"Not fair. I've been good about that for months now! And get out of my kitchen."

"It's not your…"

"Well, those are my cookies you're holding. I didn't bake them for you. So stop grabbing them."

"You'll never eat all these." Gwin waved at the countertop covered with towering plates of baked goods.

"These are for a meeting of the editorial board for Pretty Skell N(e)X(t). We're planning a big crossover issue with Miralife 4 Life, so their team will be coming too. I need all the snacks I can get, because a lot of their writers are Nopon."

"Come on, I promised Case something tasty." He looked over at Case, who had retreated to the edge of the room. Her eyes were down, not glancing at the other two. She looked forlorn.

"Oh. Hi, Case." Lin smiled brightly at the older woman, who only nodded shyly, not meeting Lin's eyes. "Well, keep those cookies, since you're sharing them. I wouldn't want anything with your germy fingerprints anway. Uh, so take two fresh ones for Case," she added quickly. She grabbed two large chocolate nom-noms and wrapped them in a napkin, shoving them into Gwin's hands. "Now get out of here!"

Case slipped through the door to the hall, and Gwin followed. As soon as the door slid shut, he started to apologize to her back. "Jeez, uh, wow, I'm sorry about that. I guess we could have two cookies each."

"No. You should keep them." Case sounded so sad, he almost turned around to go back into the kitchen and demand that Lin treat her nicer. "I'll just have … these." Gracefully she swung around, a platter balanced in her gloved hands.

Gwin goggled at the stack of smaller cookies, then at Case, who was clearly working very hard not to laugh. "How did you get those?!"

"I snagged them while you two were arguing about manners."

"She'd gonna kill me when she finds out."

"She'll blame the Nopon. I saw him take a platter just before I did. Wasn't his first either. His fur was covered with crumbs."

"That seems kind of mean."

"He's gonna get into trouble anyway. Let him take it all. Oh, right, you're a nice guy. So maybe you could take some of the heat off him by coming clean at the right moment. Hell, you could even blame me." She shrugged, completely unconcerned about anyone's tender sensibilities.

"No."

"It's cool if you do."

"No, I'm not going to blame you."

"Even though I did it."

Gwin shook his head. "I helped. I was the distraction. We're a team. Stealing skells and cookies."

"Yeah, we're great at that. Thanks for the backup." She looked up and down the corridor. "I don't think it's a good idea to eat them here, though. I'll get the plate back to you."

"Where are you going?!"

"Back to the Mim Center, I guess."

"No way. First of all … are those pecan sandies?"

"No idea."

"So, er, first of all, they'll get wet and that would be a crime."

"Maybe it stopped raining."

He ignored her. "And second, those _are_ pecan sandies. And I think there are some other types underneath. I'm not taking the rap for cookie theft and not getting pecan sandies." His voice rose with barely controlled excitement. "I think some of them are peanut butter."

Now it was Case's turn to stare. "That good?"

"Come up to my room and we'll destroy the evidence. Please."

She frowned. "No, Gwin. I'll drip all over your floor."

"I'll get you a towel."

"No towel is gonna help this." True enough, there was a trail of puddles from the door to beneath her feet, where a small pond was forming.

"You can borrow a towel and some gear. I promise not to peek." He held up his fingers, one crossed over another.

"Isn't that supposed to be when you're lying?"

He dropped his hand and blushed. "Whoops. Anyway, come on up. I promise to behave."

Case looked at him for so long, he was sure she was going to say something shocking and negative. Well, he wasn't quite wrong. "I'd come up even if you didn't promise." She grinned, finally, that grin that made him forget all the good advice he usually listened to. "Because of the cookies."

* * *

 **A/n: I have been so good, so very good about not putting up all my Case stuff out of order. What does my brain do? Hijack me with dumb fluff and force me to write it.**

 **This stuff references things that both have and have not been put up yet (most things are at least partly written, so it will happen).** **Case helping Gwin, the short version: everyone got the flu and the ECP was putting non-BLADES in the field. It was an emergency. Case teamed with Gwin, because he was not feeling his best. Not done yet. Some months before that,** **Case and Gwin also stole an enemy skell, that one's done, in The Great Skell Robbery. Uncle Doug's advice to Gwin is done but not up yet, mostly, you and Case, not a good idea.**


	3. Case

**Telephone/3/Case**

 **a/N: Our heroes have retreated to Gwin's room to eat the stolen cookies. Why can't Case relax and enjoy them? She better start soon, because Gwin is eating them so fast, I'm afraid he's gonna choke, whoops, too late…**

 **Silly, crude, hard swears, sad. I seem to run the gamut of feels in every one of these pieces.**

 **All the good stuff belongs to Monolith Soft, but Case the Headcase is my baby Cross.**

* * *

Case sat shivering on the bed, wrapped in a messy heap made of Gwin's coverlet and blankets. Only her head poked out. She'd flung her dripping wet body armor and pants over his desk chair. She probably should have asked first before destroying the perfect military corners of his bed, but Gwin had fled as soon as he'd shoved a spare shirt and sweats into her hands. He'd mumbled something about going to change in the shower room. Case mustered a little pride that she hadn't left her gear in one of the small puddles on the floor. She wondered if she should make an effort to wipe those up, and her pride evaporated.

There was a tap at the door. "It's safe," she called.

Gwin stepped through his own door with a touching lack of confidence. He looked a little shocked when he saw her on his bed. "Uh, you _are_ wearing clothes under there, right?"

"Yes. And I didn't eat all the cookies. Just one." And it had tasted like sawdust. She'd barely been able to swallow it.

"That's okay. You earned them, really, not me." He picked the platter up from his desk and sat on the bed next to her. When he offered them to her, she shook her head.

He already had one in his mouth and a second in his hand. His eyes closed with pleasure, and a muffled but contented sigh escaped him. "Peammumm mmmuttermmm." He opened his eyes and looked at her. After two swallows, he managed to ask, "Don't you want any?"

"No." Case wished she could stop shaking. It wasn't like mims needed to do that anyway, nor was she all that cold. But something about what humans expected had been replicated in their mims, like tears and itches and the comfort provided by cookies.

"You still cold? Do you want me to find you a sweater?"

"No." She frowned as a fresh wave of shivers rolled through her. "Actually, yes."

"Okay. Hold on to these. Second thought, let me put them down." He set them on the chair, turning the plate so her gear wouldn't drip on them, then dove into his locker. He came out with an ugly striped sweater, similar to ones that had been popular when she had first joined BLADE. "Will this do?"

"Sure, thanks." She shucked just enough covers off to free her shoulders and arms. Once the sweater had been pulled on, she burrowed back under.

Gwin laughed. "You look like a barnacle. They only send out feelers to snatch their food."

"I didn't eat the sweater."

"Want a cookie now? I want to see you grab one, ffffflooop." He waved the platter under her nose.

"No." She hugged her arms around her ribs, but she was still shaking. Dammit, this was completely unnecessary. "I should just go home."

He leaned over to set the platter back on the chair, then hitched himself a little closer to Case. "Case, what's the matter?"

"Nothing." It was as if her voice was jumping as fast as her shivers. She shot an angry glance at him. He backed away a fraction, but kept looking at her with blue eyes almost as wide as her green ones. She sighed in frustration. "I'm trying to get my shit together, okay?"

He gave a timid smile. "Cussing isn't going to shock me."

She smiled back, slightly. "Yeah, I remember."

"So you can tell me about it. I'm an okay guy."

"You're a nice guy."

He frowned darkly and slipped off the bed, to sit with his back against it. He reached for the cookie platter. "Thanks," he said sourly before taking another treat.

"What's wrong?" She leaned over the edge to try to look at his face.

"That's just what … someone … called me tonight. Before reminding me where nice guys finish."

"Where?"

"Last. Nice guys finish last. I'm so sick of hearing that. Nice guys finish last," he repeated. He grabbed two more cookies.

Case paused a moment until he'd taken a big bite, then said calmly, "So? Nice guys make sure their partners are going to finish first. That's what makes them nice guys." She was well rewarded by his response.

"Gahhhh! You made me spit crumbs across my floor! Case!"

"And you said you couldn't be shocked," she said smugly.

"I'm going to get Miran ants now."

"Oooo, itchy."

As he swept up the debris, he kept complaining, while her smile grew. "Dammit, Case, if I get ants, I'm blaming you. I should know never to challenge you when it comes to rude and crude. God dammit, Case," he repeated, "if someone says that again, I'm going to start laughing and no one will understand."

"So?"

"So there's a guy in the Interceptors who loves that phrase. He uses it almost every meeting, and I swear he looks at me each time. I'm going to crack up at the next division meeting."

Case's grin switched to evil. "Dare you to use my line in response." Gwin looked at her with shock. "Double dog dare you. He says shit, you stand up, point out that you look out for your partner first, give him a smug little smile, sit down, and thank you."

"No … way … oh god, I'm going to have to do that, aren't I?"

The lost look on his face was too much. She started to laugh. Soon they were both howling, helpless with laughter. It took a good minute for them to recover the least bit of control, ending with the two of them panting, Case draped over the edge of Gwin's bed, and Gwin flat on the floor, arms and legs in a perfect X.

Gwin's head twisted so he could look at Case. "Feel better now?"

She flopped over and stared at his ceiling. "I had a nightmare," she blurted out. Maybe she _could_ tell him. He was safe, and he was nice.

Gwin's voice was kind but slightly unconcerned. "Everyone has them. I understand."

"No, you don't. I _never_ get them. It can start however it likes, but I can fix it. I'm falling? I'm flying. Prone's killing Nopon? It was all a trick and a trap, and no one got hurt but the bad guys. The Dog Squad? They just drop dead, nice. Even the skell, the one we stole? It couldn't hurt me."

She could hear him sitting up. "That was bad. You were spent a long time healing in the Mim Center after that. I'm not surprised you still have bad dreams about it."

"No, Gwin. It wasn't a nightmare. I only dreamt about it once, while I was still in the Center, and I'm telling you, it didn't stand a chance. I rose out of that thing like I was a phoenix." She raised her hands slowly, away from her chest, spreading them like wings as they lifted. "I was a Telethia, there to defend NLA. Nothing was going to hurt any of us. Ever." Her hands dropped back down and she turned her head to look at him. He didn't look convinced.

"Really. I never have them," she repeated urgently. "Until tonight. Because I can't …" It was too much. She closed her eyes, rolled away from him and buried her face in the tangle of blankets, trying not to cry.

"Was it…" Gwin was kneeling beside the bed, his head bent over her. He said a name she still wasn't comfortable saying out loud. She nodded, not looking at him, a rapid series of tiny twitches. "Aw, Case…"

She barely managed to speak, she was shivering and gulping so hard. "That's the one thing I can't fix. Especially now he's dead. I just can't."

It was a long time before they got around to finishing the cookies.

* * *

 **a/n: I think that's all for this batch of cookies. I can't say the name out loud either, because Eldest Child won't finish that quest, and instead is now playing Xenoblade the First. I can't blame Eldest for their time management choices, but I have been dying from spoilers for a year. Please, do it for mommy? (Oh well, I died from spoilers for 5 years for Xenoblade, I can suck it up and deal.)**

 **The evil skell Case and Gwin stole: The Great Skell Robbery. Case drops the f-bomb within the first 3 paragraphs, and Gwin tries to play it off. Fool.**

 **This is not all for Case. I have tons more written, some complete, some started, some only in outline. This story has spoils about the whole thing. Don't care, I couldn't stop writing this, so consider it a summer interlude. Someday I'll get Duna and Wolf's Wacky Adventures done.**

 **Still Team Cake, I don't care about the numbers**


End file.
